Columbia Gas Officials Meet With People Affected By Disaster

About 50 people gathered at Lawrence High School to hear from company executives.

(Published Saturday, March 9, 2019)

The utility company blamed for September's natural gas explosions and fires in Massachusetts is enlisting former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood to oversee its safety efforts.

NiSource said Thursday that the former Republican congressman from Illinois will chair a new board charged with reviewing the company's rollout of a new safety management system across the seven states it serves.

The Indiana-based company said the new system will provide a structured and consistent way to identify and reduce risk.

Federal investigators have said the company's Massachusetts subsidiary, Columbia Gas, lacked internal procedures that could have prevented the Sept. 13 disaster.

Clerk Pulls Out Machete on Would-Be Robber

A would-be robber armed with a knife had a surprise in store when an Alabama store clerk pulled out a machete in defense. The two's brief knife fight was caught on camera before the clerk runs out to damage the robber's car.

According to police, suspect Seth Holcomb walked up to the counter to make a purchase. He leaves the store and then comes back in as if to make a second purchase. Then, he pulled out a knife at the counter. What he didn't expect was that the clerk would pull out a machete of his own.

(Published Wednesday, March 20, 2019)

Overpressurization during a routine pipeline replacement project led to the death of one person, dozens of injuries, hundreds of damaged buildings and thousands of customers without natural gas service for months.